General British politics discussion thread

Even if the greatest PM ever was to emerge the best they could do is stop things getting too much worse.

Making things better isn't gonna happen post Brexit and returning to the ficticious sunny uplands people crave is impossible.

Feel sorry for Starmer in a way

I don't

He lied to become leader of the Labour Party

He continued Tory policies

He chased the Reform vote blissfully incapable of understanding Labour cannot out-reform reform

He took freebies all over the place

He supported and justified Israeli war crimes

He allowed Trump to use UK bases to carpet bomb Iran

Anyway it seems he's going to try and cling on and no one had the bottle to challenge him at cabinet.

Keir Starmer tells cabinet he is not resigning amid growing pressure to stand down – UK politics live

Tim Shipman is quoted in the Guardian on potential challengers, and he makes some fair points:-

Having seen this show multiple times, MPs will be asking themselves “can I get a better job?” And “will the new leader swing the way my heart desires?” Labour MPs will do themselves and the country a favour if they use their heads and my ask every leadership contender these questions:

1) What is your plan? Not the vibes or the direction of travel. The actual policies they will prioritise

2) How will you communicate this plan to the voters? (MPs ask yourself if the candidate is a good communicator because without that they are lost)

3) Who is your team to enact this plan both a) in the key cabinet posts and b) in Downing Street. At a bare minimum they should have identified a chief of staff and a director of communications

4) How will your plan persuade the markets not to blow up the government on the launching pad? If you don’t get proper answers to all these questions move on.

Unless they have good answers to all these questions you will be installing another dud

Barnett Formula is gamed continually by claiming that certain things are national spend and hence do not count for regional spend; including most notably the London Olympics. It is not the wonderful thing that Unionists claim.

Are you so unable to counter the point that you're trying to force something I never said on to me, cause you can argue against it?

You said "have you not heard of the Barnet formula" as if it was somehow magic and ensured that Scotland always benefited.

The Barnett Formula does no such thing, as it is often gamed by Westminster to ensure they do not need to give the devolved nations increased funding; and population changes are also eroding the value increase they once got.

As it happens, Wales are subsidising HS2 as they do not get Barnett cover for English rail. Scotland aren't, but I wasn't arguing that.

no one is happy with the Barnet formula, but no one has any ideas for an alternative either. My point stands though, there is a mechanism in place for expenditure such as HS2 and until Scottish independence, or a devolved English parliament, it will have to do.

Obnoxious Jess Philips has resigned from cabinet, so let the death by a thousand cuts for Sir Keir begin as each minister resigns in turn.

The billions of infra for the 2012 Olympics benefited London (and West Ham!) quite specifically though.

It turns out only one boat owner in that marina paid tax over the last 35 years, this isn't on Polanski

Reform have had a MS (Wales) elected with questionable status too. And apparently a fictional councillor.

The Scottish one is explicitly legal, though.